Should U.S. exit Afghanistan early?

SOUNDING BOARD

Army soldiers of Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, in Afghanistan load a round… (ERIK DE CASTRO, Reuters…)

March 22, 2012

TODAY'S QUESTION: U.S. troops in Afghanistan inadvertently burned Qurans, an Army soldier allegedly shot 16 Afghan civilians to death, and the country's president called the United States a "demon." As tensions increase between the two nations, should the United States start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan immediately or wait and follow the plan to bring all troops home by the end of 2014?

Stay in Afghanistan until the job is done

These incidents, while unfortunate and tragic, should have little influence on the overall decision to withdraw earlier than the official date of 2014. The Quran-burning issue is being exacerbated by the local imams as those sacred texts had already been desecrated by the prison inmates. The civilian slaughter allegedly committed by a U.S. soldier appears to be the act of a deranged individual. Both of these should be handled by the appropriate diplomatic and humanitarian channels and should play no part in consideration of an early withdrawal. President Karzai's public displays of outrage are for the benefit of his local constituents and should be taken with a grain of salt.

The withdrawal decision should be based on established policy, input from on-site U.S. military commanders and behind-the-scenes discussions with responsible Afghan officials. From my viewpoint, I would either stick with the 2014 date or extend it if Afghan officials appear unable to control the radical Muslim fringe residing in their country.

-- Ed Prescott, Upper Milford Township

Delaying inevitable means more deaths

Please. Get out now. Delaying the inevitable is doing nothing but getting more people killed. And if you think delaying is helpful, just remember what Ben Franklin said: "You may delay, but time will not," and "lost time is never found again."

-- Steve Vengrove, Bethlehem

Bring troops home earlier than planned

We are now in the 11th year of war in Afghanistan and far away from the stated goal of winning: leaving that country with a stable government, able to defend itself against all enemies. The central government in Kabul is totally corrupt and has no great influence over the tribal leaders, and we see no great success in our training of the police/army component of such a departure.

So, there should be plans for a much earlier departure than 2014. Although public opinion against staying in Afghanistan in recent polls has passed 60 percent, that opposition has not been vocal. The opposition to our staying in Vietnam was very different because those casualties were largely our drafted sons.

-- Thomas C. Miller, Bethlehem

Accelerate withdrawal of American forces

I would like to see the troop withdrawal increased and have all our troops home by the end of 2013. I also would like to see all foreign aid to Afghanistan ended. In December 2001, the U.N. Security Council authorized the creation of the International Security Assistance Force to help maintain security and assist the Karzai administration. That security force consists of mainly American troops, and it seems that President Karzai no longer wants our help.

Our troops have served in two wars in Iraq and now in Afghanistan and it has cost our country heavily in lives and money. Eleven years of war is one of the reasons our national deficit is as high as it is. The war in Afghanistan has become a guerrilla type of warfare, and we should have learned from the Vietnam War that thousands of troops on the ground are not the answer to that type of warfare. Small groups of special forces can and have been more effective and a lot less costly.

Our troops have served their country well and we should be proud of all that they have accomplished, but it is time to bring them home. We should be spending our energy on solving our economic problems in this country and creating jobs for those who need them. As for recent incidents, war is a horrible thing and awful things can and do happen. It is not for us to judge but to try and understand.

-- Thomas Kurtz, Lower Macungie Township

Don't let disturbing incidents affect goal

The whole question of the war in Afghanistan is problematic, fraught with difficulty based on national security, politics and world peace. There is no clear answer, nor even any clear understanding by most folks, myself included. Given that this is the starting point, let me still attempt to offer an answer to the question of whether we should withdraw more quickly than planned or stay the course.